Friday, 22 August 2014

As
a result of the recent devastation caused by Typhoon Glenda
in Southern Luzon, Philippines, consumers now face a shortage of the supply for
basic goods such as chicken, vegetables, fruits. Still reeling from
Super-Typhoon Yolanda in 2013, the strongest typhoon that has hit in a century
or so, the country enjoys one of the highest rates of growth although it
continues to experience insufficient rice harvest and plans to import rice from
neighboring countries like Thailand and Vietnam.

For
a country that yearly experiences havoc caused by tropical cyclones
and other natural calamities, economic development must constantly take into
account the effects of natural forces on the livelihood of people. Farmers may
lose all the months of hard work through planting and caring for crops in a
single day of strong cyclonic winds or flooding caused by incessant monsoon
rains which can last for more than a week.

In
spite of this reality, the government has not completely adapted to the
cyclical changes in climatic patterns but instead continues to depend upon old
economic policies and strategies that fail to address the fundamental problems.

Yet
there are a few steps any government can implement to minimize the effects of
natural calamities and to prepare the people and make them more capable of
recovering in a shorter period. Let us look at these tips or principles:

1. Doing away with
unsustainable farming techniques

Dependence
on too much use of NPK (nitrogen-phosphate-potassium) fertilizer has led to
leeching of the soil in many countries which followed the western agricultural
paradigm after the last world war. More modern and scientific farming
approaches which replenish all of the essential minerals in an organic manner
will provide a more sustainable and healthier source of nutrition for humans.

It
has been found that NPK fertilizer requires a higher investment than the more
organic approach now more popularly referred to as nutritional or trophobiotic
farming. The latter allows farmers and small gardeners to recover more readily
from stresses experienced by plants during typhoons, floods and pest
infestations.

2. Reviving the Green
Revolution

Encouraging
more people to go into container or backyard gardening and home livestock-
raising will sustain a significant portion of their vegetable and meat supply
domestically with even more healthful options compared to commercial
alternatives. This will also do away with the high prices of such basic goods
due to middle-men and transportation cost-add-ons.

Home-based
gardens and small farms are also less prone to be affected by natural
calamities as they can be housed in green houses or be planted in plastic bags
and recylcled containers which can be raised during floods or moved to safer
areas during storms.

3. Empowering the landless
and the far-flung villages

People
who have no land can still have the opportunity to establish cooperatives with
others and lease or buy small farms which can compete with big farm
corporations with their organically-grown produce. They can also establish
links with like-minded business-people who need their products to address the
problem of transporting goods.

With
more and more families involved in such activities, the big farms will no
longer monopolize the supply of basic goods. These people will also be able to
patronize their own produce or barter their surplus produce with other goods
they need with other producers and manufacturers.

4. Urban farmers can
multiply through the use of idle lands and buildings

Detroit
City, the world’s car-manufacturing center for many years, has recently become
the ironic poster boy of bankruptcy as the economic meltdown of the US in
recent years. Yet, its empty car factories are now slowly being converted into
modern organic multi-levelled farms that will help transform the landscape and
paradigm of economic activity worldwide. This is a parallel strategy which the
Japanese undertook when a law was passed for all high-rise buildings in Tokyo
to put up gardens on rooftops to minimize local as well as global warming.

5. Other modern planting
techniques

Hydroponics,
aquaponics and other indoor gardening and farming techniques can now be easily
done by any individual or family at minimal costs. Governments must encourage
more people to go into this not just to avoid the recurring shortage during
calamities but also to augment the needs of restaurants, hotels and other
businesses that have special or particular needs.

Political
will and economic sufficiency is not merely an exclusive domain of leaders or
governments but a duty of each citizen of any country. To a reasonable degree,
each person can have a stake in that common objective of achieving and
maintaining progress for all nations.